What story would best translate to the big screen?

[Hilden B. Lade]

Cacophony/The Widening Gyre
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j/k

In all honesty, as others have pointed out, Loeb's Batman books (for all their flaws) would translate incredibly well to the big screen.

[OneBadVeggie]

The Long Halloween would be so cool.

It's a crime story, it's Godfather with tights... of course it would work.

[t hedge coke]

It's a crime story, it's Godfather with tights... of course it would work.

The Godfather pastiche would be even harder to take on screen, I'd think.

At the same time, I think DKSA or Year One would come off massively well live action on the big screen.

The Howard Chaykin thing with Cavalier has everything you'd want, except that it's potentially too critical of Batman.

[jump]

IMO some stories people have suggested like Death In The Family and Black Mirror wouldn't work on the big screen as they have a lot of backstory to them to do a straight adaptation, Court of Owls lacks a satisfying ending by not having a face off or gets messy by tacking on Night Of The Owls at the end and personally I think Loeb's stuff is too episodic to work as a movie and would only work as a series.

My top pick would be Dark Knight Returns as it has a beginning, middle and ending, Bats has a character arc and lots of set peices for the summer action blockbuster. I could also see Mad Love as an indie rom-com, Year 100 as a Dredd type low-budget/B movie, Year One as the 70's type cop/gangster film, Batman & The Monster Men as a monster movie.

[Kensei]

I have long thought that "Hush" would make a great movie, which would be introducing a brand new villain to the mainstream moviegoing public who are familiar with Batman but don't actually read the comics even though he is old news now to those of us who do. I am also very fond of "Heart of Hush" and would love to see the two stories melded in a film, which would provide a great romance angle between Bruce and Selina, and the way Selina takes her revenge on Hush at the end of HOH would be a killer ending to a movie. If we are talking Batfleck movies, might I suggest Michael Fassbender as Hush? He and Ben are about four years apart in age I believe, which would work well for how Bruce and Tommy were childhood friends of about the same age.

I agree "The Long Halloween" would be an awesome movie, but it would almost have to be incorporated with "Dark Victory," which is THE right way to do Robin on the big screen. I always wished someone would have pitched the idea to Christian Bale when he said if Robin was ever introduced he would walk. Robin in the movies shouldn't be Chris O'Donnell or Joseph Gordeon Levitt. He needs to be a KID, 10 years old, orphaned at the circus before the eyes of Bruce who immediately sees himself in him and bonds with him for that reason.

I also think the passionate love-hate relationship between Bruce and Talia and the spawning of Damian would heat up the screen in very satisfying ways, but there is one other arc that I would like to see even more and that is Oracle. Seeing Batgirl on screen as a character that personifies FUN even as she is kicking criminal butt and getting to love her that way, and then seeing her fall in such a horrible way, being shot and crippled, but then building herself back up and determining to keep on fighting crime with her mind if not with her body- what a roller coaster of emotion that would be to see in live action!

[dancj]

The Dark Knight Returns. I really enjoyed the animated version and a live action one would be great.

Also Year One. The animated version of that wasn't so good, but I'm sure it could be done well.

[twentymilesoutoftown]

The animated version of Year One could've been so much better. Gordon's voice was perfect. Batman's... I wasn't impressed.